Hong Kong
Hong Kong was not spared the Millennia! hysteria that gripped the West. The Star Alliance City Festival Guide opens with a quote from Ben Okri's Millennia! Lecture which was delivered at the 1998 Edinburgh Festival and which says, 'The millennium is an illusion; but it is a useful and powerful illusion by which we can become more real. .. .it is a moment in which the mind of a large section of humanity contemplates andis faced with the larger questions of time, death and new beginnings .... '
Rising to this 'global' occasion and faced with this 'larger-than-life ' moment the Hong Kong City Festival seized the opportunity to re-invent the Fringe Festival, taking it .. from being a non-selective, open access program to one ' ... whose focus is to mirror the multiplicities of a modem city, by adopting both open access and a curatorial approach'. Here, open access includes a number of 'invited' events. Given that Fringe Festivals have prided themselves on a democratic approach to programming this was a risky strategy. In its quest for even limited quality control, it seems that many traditionalists feared that the edge, spirit and energy of the Fringe would, at the very least, be compromised.
Fringe Festivals developed as an alternative to the elitism and operatic emphasis of city Arts Festivals by providing (open) access to performers and artists of widely ranging styles and talents. They have also maximised audience participation through cheap ticket prices and accessible events. Adelaide Fringe 2000 Director, Barbara Wolke traces the festival's beginnings to the 'rebellious sixties' placing an emphasis on, 'independence, freedom and fun'. Interestingly, over a period of some twenty-five years the Adelaide Fringe... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline